Griz vs. Pepperdine (Thursday)

[PlayerRep]

Great to see Gfeller break out a bit this game. I think the MVPs are Lopez and Rorie. Consistent on both sides of the ball. We should have won this by more but some mental lapses and bad plays on our part kept the Waves in it. Sayeed needs to get himself under control better as he had some bad turnovers and there was at least one drive where he could have kicked it to a wide open Gfeller where he didn't and missed the shot. I hope he and Oguine get it together next game! On to conference play!

Pridgett had one turnover.

 

[PlayerRep]

Fun game to watch. Griz played well, but not great. Had a great spurt late, to regain a 5 or so point lead. Pepperdine is a pretty good team. No. 30 can shoot and rebound. Pepperdine defended fairly well at first, but then started giving up long 3's to the Griz. Griz shot the 3 ball well (13 for 24).

Lopez shot the 3 well, especially early, and rebounded well. He is a very good defender. Of course, Rorie is very good and was more aggressive than earlier this season. Hit a nice 3 to start the key spurt. 8 assists and 1 turnover. Very good player. Nice shooting by Gfeller. Nice to see him break out. 22 minutes.

Oguine in foul trouble and fouled out Just didn't seem to get anything going. Neither did Pridgett. Only 11 minutes. Kryslovich had a pretty good game, but Pepperdine had some horses in the middle. needs to improve his free throws.

Pepperdine had 19 turnovers. They scored alot in the paint, with bigs and smaller guys. Outrebounded the Griz. Refs weren't terrible but blew some calls. Both ways.

Hellgate high dance team performed at halftime and were good. A senior UM dancer coaches them. Introduced that sports guy Sample to the dance team after the game. Hope he realizes how fortunate he is. Ha.

 

[BelierPeaux]

Great to see Gfeller break out a bit this game. I think the MVPs are Lopez and Rorie. Consistent on both sides of the ball. We should have won this by more but some mental lapses and bad plays on our part kept the Waves in it. Sayeed needs to get himself under control better as he had some bad turnovers and there was at least one drive where he could have kicked it to a wide open Gfeller where he didn't and missed the shot. I hope he and Oguine get it together next game! On to conference play!

Pridgett had one turnover.

Perhaps I got it wrong, but I am pretty sure he stepped on the baseline twice.

 

[GrizLA]

BTW, didn't come out with the same intensity/scrappiness I saw at Riverside but Griz got a run and some energy late from the crowd tonight, which was nice to see/hear.

Made the difference, IMO. But way, way too close ... at home against a pretty weak opponent.

Pepperdine is not a "weak" opponent. The beat Weber and will be strong again in their conference which is getting stronger every year. This is a good win by UM, accept it.

 

[griz71]

Sky gonna be a real barnburner with Griz, Weebs, Idaho, Ewoo, and NoDaks all right there. The real season starts next Thursday. GO GRIZ!

 

[PlayerRep]

Great to see Gfeller break out a bit this game. I think the MVPs are Lopez and Rorie. Consistent on both sides of the ball. We should have won this by more but some mental lapses and bad plays on our part kept the Waves in it. Sayeed needs to get himself under control better as he had some bad turnovers and there was at least one drive where he could have kicked it to a wide open Gfeller where he didn't and missed the shot. I hope he and Oguine get it together next game! On to conference play!

Pridgett had one turnover.

Perhaps I got it wrong, but I am pretty sure he stepped on the baseline twice.

I took 1 from the stats on egriz. Rorie and Pridgett both stepped out on the north end.

 

[PlayerRep]

BTW, didn't come out with the same intensity/scrappiness I saw at Riverside but Griz got a run and some energy late from the crowd tonight, which was nice to see/hear.

Made the difference, IMO. But way, way too close ... at home against a pretty weak opponent.

Pepperdine is not a "weak" opponent. The beat Weber and will be strong again in their conference which is getting stronger every year. This is a good win by UM, accept it.

I find it hard to believe that Pepperdine lost 6 in a row. They seem close to being a good team.

 

[Zirg]

The Waves have been playing without two expected starters due to injury.

 

[Zirg]

It's a good win in my mind, but was wondering why Rorie shot almost immediately after a TO with 14 seconds left in the first half? You wait for the last shot at that point,PERIOD. If it doesn't end up being a great shot at the buzzer,so be it. It is inexplicable to shoot a long-range 2-pointer with 11 seconds left and allowing Pepperdine to get their own shot off at the buzzer,IMO.

 

[AllWeatherFan]

Oguine and Wright have zero points between them...and we win?

I'll take that any time!

:thumb:

 

[IdaGriz01]

BTW, didn't come out with the same intensity/scrappiness I saw at Riverside but Griz got a run and some energy late from the crowd tonight, which was nice to see/hear.

Made the difference, IMO. But way, way too close ... at home against a pretty weak opponent.

Pepperdine is not a "weak" opponent. The beat Weber and will be strong again in their conference which is getting stronger every year. This is a good win by UM, accept it.

I find it hard to believe that Pepperdine lost 6 in a row. They seem close to being a good team.

This was the only time I’ve seen Pepperdine play – and only spurts at that since the streaming I got was pretty spotty. I gather that they look better on the floor than their record would indicate.

But having nothing else to go on, I did go on the Waves’ record. Yes, they did beat Weber … by 1 point on their home floor. Their other wins were over Cal Poly, Life Pacific College, and Arkansas-Little Rock. Cal Poly was 10-20 last year and have started out 5-7 … not too impressive. Life Pacific is an unaffiliated startup program, in its second year. Ark-LR (7-4) is a decent team but, again, Pepperdine barely squeaked out a 1-point win on their home court.

That six-game losing streak started with three losses on their home floor, then three (now four) on the road. Some of those losses were to pretty good teams (like USC), but half of them were blow-outs (lost by 26 points).

I’m sorry to say, at 4-8, they look like a “weak” team to me, no matter how tough they played the Griz. Are they missing some players?

 

[grizzlyjournal]

It's a good win in my mind, but was wondering why Rorie shot almost immediately after a TO with 14 seconds left in the first half? You wait for the last shot at that point,PERIOD. If it doesn't end up being a great shot at the buzzer,so be it. It is inexplicable to shoot a long-range 2-pointer with 11 seconds left and allowing Pepperdine to get their own shot off at the buzzer,IMO.

Don't know if you were at the game, but immediately after the buzzer ended the first half DeCuire pulled Rorie aside, put his arm around his shoulder and gave him a fairly lengthy talk. I'm pretty certain he was saying something similar to what you explain. The timeout was obviously intended to set up a final shot.

Despite Montana's wealth of talented guards, there are still some "leadership" or "floor general" inconsistencies. Rorie's young, but getting better & better at running the Griz O (note his 8 assists and 3 steals compared to only one turnover last night). But he's still learning. There was another point with the game on the line where Rorie hesitated with being "the guy" to take that final shot, and passed to a surprised Mario Dunn, who didn't have time to shoot. Later, Rorie made the steal & ft (only one of two) to seal the game. He's still learning. I have no doubt he has the physical abilities to handle the role. It's only a matter of time for him to get all the other intangibles down.

 

[PlayerRep]

Pepper has 2 starters out. One for 6 weeks. One for season. One a senior point guard. One was their frosh player of year last season.

Amadi Udenyi Achilles out for season
11/15/16 F Kameron Edwards Jaw expected to miss 6 weeks

 

[IdaGriz01]

Pepper has 2 starters out. One for 6 weeks. One for season. One a senior point guard. One was their frosh player of year last season.

Amadi Udenyi Achilles out for season
11/15/16 F Kameron Edwards Jaw expected to miss 6 weeks

If that was the date when he went down, it explains a lot. They had three wins to start the season (including that Weber State win). They lost on Nov 21, squeaked out a 1-point win in their next game, and have lost every game since. Sad, but a truism that teams like Pepperdine (and UM, for that matter) are so thin in really talented players, they can't afford to lose any of them. At best, it takes awhile to adjust so other players take up the slack. From how tough everyone says the Waves played the Griz, one might suspect they are finally starting to make those adjustments. Good news for their regular season. (Too bad they have to open on the road at Gonzaga. )

 

[fanofzoo]

Starting guards were out so that makes sense why they couldn't handle our half court traps. Good shooting team but will need someone to handle the ball.

 

[Colter_Nuanez56]

Griz inch past Pepperdine in last non-conference win
http://skylinesportsmt.com/griz-beat-pepperdine/

 

[Zirg]

It's a good win in my mind, but was wondering why Rorie shot almost immediately after a TO with 14 seconds left in the first half? You wait for the last shot at that point,PERIOD. If it doesn't end up being a great shot at the buzzer,so be it. It is inexplicable to shoot a long-range 2-pointer with 11 seconds left and allowing Pepperdine to get their own shot off at the buzzer,IMO.

Don't know if you were at the game, but immediately after the buzzer ended the first half DeCuire pulled Rorie aside, put his arm around his shoulder and gave him a fairly lengthy talk. I'm pretty certain he was saying something similar to what you explain. The timeout was obviously intended to set up a final shot.

Despite Montana's wealth of talented guards, there are still some "leadership" or "floor general" inconsistencies. Rorie's young, but getting better & better at running the Griz O (note his 8 assists and 3 steals compared to only one turnover last night). But he's still learning. There was another point with the game on the line where Rorie hesitated with being "the guy" to take that final shot, and passed to a surprised Mario Dunn, who didn't have time to shoot. Later, Rorie made the steal & ft (only one of two) to seal the game. He's still learning. I have no doubt he has the physical abilities to handle the role. It's only a matter of time for him to get all the other intangibles down.

That is comforting to here. I didn't see that. If some young guys learned from that debacle, hopefully it will pay off later in the year.

 

[Zirg]

It's a good win in my mind, but was wondering why Rorie shot almost immediately after a TO with 14 seconds left in the first half? You wait for the last shot at that point,PERIOD. If it doesn't end up being a great shot at the buzzer,so be it. It is inexplicable to shoot a long-range 2-pointer with 11 seconds left and allowing Pepperdine to get their own shot off at the buzzer,IMO.

Don't know if you were at the game, but immediately after the buzzer ended the first half DeCuire pulled Rorie aside, put his arm around his shoulder and gave him a fairly lengthy talk. I'm pretty certain he was saying something similar to what you explain. The timeout was obviously intended to set up a final shot.

Despite Montana's wealth of talented guards, there are still some "leadership" or "floor general" inconsistencies. Rorie's young, but getting better & better at running the Griz O (note his 8 assists and 3 steals compared to only one turnover last night). But he's still learning. There was another point with the game on the line where Rorie hesitated with being "the guy" to take that final shot, and passed to a surprised Mario Dunn, who didn't have time to shoot. Later, Rorie made the steal & ft (only one of two) to seal the game. He's still learning. I have no doubt he has the physical abilities to handle the role. It's only a matter of time for him to get all the other intangibles down.

I agree Rorie is still learning, but some things should just come naturally. You shouldn't have to explain to a D1 player why you don't shoot with 11 seconds left in the first half. You should learn that by 8th grade.

 

[grizzlyjournal]

It's a good win in my mind, but was wondering why Rorie shot almost immediately after a TO with 14 seconds left in the first half? You wait for the last shot at that point,PERIOD. If it doesn't end up being a great shot at the buzzer,so be it. It is inexplicable to shoot a long-range 2-pointer with 11 seconds left and allowing Pepperdine to get their own shot off at the buzzer,IMO.

Don't know if you were at the game, but immediately after the buzzer ended the first half DeCuire pulled Rorie aside, put his arm around his shoulder and gave him a fairly lengthy talk. I'm pretty certain he was saying something similar to what you explain. The timeout was obviously intended to set up a final shot.

Despite Montana's wealth of talented guards, there are still some "leadership" or "floor general" inconsistencies. Rorie's young, but getting better & better at running the Griz O (note his 8 assists and 3 steals compared to only one turnover last night). But he's still learning. There was another point with the game on the line where Rorie hesitated with being "the guy" to take that final shot, and passed to a surprised Mario Dunn, who didn't have time to shoot. Later, Rorie made the steal & ft (only one of two) to seal the game. He's still learning. I have no doubt he has the physical abilities to handle the role. It's only a matter of time for him to get all the other intangibles down.

I agree Rorie is still learning, but some things should just come naturally. You shouldn't have to explain to a D1 player why you don't shoot with 11 seconds left in the first half. You should learn that by 8th grade.

True. But if Rorie had made the wide open trey he took at the 10-second mark, we probably wouldn't be discussing the final 3-8 seconds of play in the first half. Rorie doesn't believe he'll miss those open shots, and that's good. I guess I'd prefer to see a point guard make mistakes of over-aggressiveness (and confidence) than mistakes of hesitation.